Area Sports: Volleyball, tennis, soccer, scholar athlete, more

By Sports staff reports

Published: Wednesday, October 2, 2013 at 08:00 PM.

The Kings Mountain defense got in on the scoring act as Jerdon Pressley blocked a punt and Jonathan Rikard recovered for a score. Sabiem Beam also had a two-point conversion for the Patriots, who host Lincolnton next Wednesday.

Crest 4, Kings Mountain 1 — Nate Kennedy scored three goals and added an assist for the host Chargers, with Justin Wright adding the other goal.

It was Kennedy’s fourth hat trick of the season.

Jonathon Beatty was in goal for Crest.

The Chargers (8-6, 7-4 SMAC) play at East Burke in a 5 p.m. JV/varsity doubleheader on Monday.

Shelby 7, East Rutherford 1 – The Golden Lions marched ahead in SMAC action with a victory at home over East.

Ben Gold scored three goals, two of those on assists from David Ray Allen, who also notched a goal on an assist by Gold. Steven Pate, Mario Garcia and Chance Ramsey had goals with Tyler Cowan and Aaron Assad also providing assists.

Charles Dixon and Sam McMurray led the Lions’ defensive effort with Will Bryant and Avery Gay splitting time in goal.

Shelby (10-1 SMAC, 11-2 overall) plays at Polk County Thursday in a JV/varsity twinbill beginning at 6:30 p.m. The games will be played at the Tryon Middle School field.

Varsity girls tennis

Shelby 9, East Rutherford 0 – The Lady Golden Lions rolled in their home finale at the David Schweppe Memorial Courts Wednesday.

Shelby 42, Chase 6 — The Blue Devils romped to their fourth consecutive victory with a 21-0 blitz in the first quarter to take control.

Five different Shelby players reached the end zone during the contest. Tavares Scott was on the receiving end of a 73-yard pass from Malik Surratt for one score, with Scott also carrying six yards for another touchdown.

Dax Hollifield had an eight-yard touchdown run, Xavier Brooks broke free on a 30-yard scoring dash, Josh Hopper had a five-yard touchdown romp, and Will Stites hauled in a 25-yard pass from Malik McMullens for another touchdown. Scott provided a two-point conversion run and Chase Hendricks converted four extra points for the victors.

Kings Mountain 42, West Lincoln 0 — The Patriots boosted their division record to 2-1 on the season by routing West.

Mike Collins had scoring runs of 55 and six yards for the victors and also returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown. Mike Toms has a 41-yard touchdown jaunt and also caught a pass for a conversion. London Zanders had a 27-yard scoring run for Kings Mountain and also ran for a two-point conversion.

The Kings Mountain defense got in on the scoring act as Jerdon Pressley blocked a punt and Jonathan Rikard recovered for a score. Sabiem Beam also had a two-point conversion for the Patriots, who host Lincolnton next Wednesday.

Erin Anderson and Emily Holte each tallied nine kills, with Anderson also contributing nine digs. Heather Feldman pitched in with 26 set assists, with Brianna Starr and Anna Pashkova adding four digs apiece.

GWU returns to Big South Conference play Friday at Liberty, then goes to Radford Saturday.

College football

There will be a local presence in Saturday’s game in Charlotte pitting the 49ers (3-2) against visiting Gardner-Webb (4-1) at noon.

For Charlotte, Brandon Strupp (East Lincoln 2009) is averaging 37.7 yards in 25 punts and Cortezz Nixon (Forestview 2011) has seven tackles, including one for a loss, with one interception and one pass break-up.

And for the Bulldogs, Dylan Hopper (Crest 2012) has started five games on the offensive line, Jonathan Sherrill (Lincolnton 2012) has seven tackles in four games and Michael Cunningham (Lincolnton 2012) has one tackle in four games.